Contacts insertable into passageways of housings require assured mechanisms to be retained in the passageways after insertion, resistant to strain. Stamped and formed contacts commonly rely on lances cooperating with ledges along one or more walls of the passageway to resist withdrawal in a direction opposed to the direction of insertion, and the lances commonly are deflectable during insertion until passing the ledge whereafter the lances resile for a free end thereof to abut the ledge to define a positive stop.
One such contact is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,260, wherein the contact is stamped and formed from a metal blank to define a female contact section at one end and a U-shaped channel between upstanding walls at the other end for being crimped around an end of a conductor wire, after which the contact is insertable into a housing passageway. The female contact section is formed from walls of the blank being formed upwardly from a common bottom wall to form side walls and then a pair of top wall sections extending toward each other from top edges of the side walls, the female contact section having a box shape defining a contact-receiving channel. A pair of spring contact arms is formed into the top wall sections, each extending between joints with leading and trailing end portions of respective top wall sections, and spring contact portions between the joints protruding into the contact-receiving channel. Opposed side edges of the original blank side walls are stamped into struts joined at their ends to the leading end portions of respective top wall sections and to flexible tabs spaced rearwardly of the trailing top wall end portions, extending the length of the female contact section and oriented laterally outwardly from the contact-receiving channel, with top edges sloping slightly upwardly from front to rear. Rearward edges of each strut define rearwardly facing stop surfaces cooperable with ledges of the housing passageway after full insertion for contact retention, while during insertion the supported struts are controllably deflectable at least at the rearward ends into the contact-receiving channel by a constriction of the passageway rearwardly of the ledge.
Other latching mechanisms are known, such as one where a latching projection extends into the housing passageway from a side wall and seats within an aperture of a portion of the contact upon full insertion; the socket contact section comprises a pair of contact spring arms coextending along the bottom wall of contact-receiving channel and a second pair along the top wall, with both ends of all the arms joined integrally with the bottom and top walls. Such a contact is Part No. 770642-1 sold by AMP Incorporated.
It is desired to provide an assured latching system for retention of a female contact upon full insertion into a housing passageway, with the latching mechanism formed integral with the contact stamped and formed from a common blank and with no interference with the spring beams of the contact during assembly or during mating.
It is also desired to provide a latching system that permits ease of contact insertion during assembly and yet establishes substantial resistance to withdrawal after assembly.